1979: The child's mother is a celestial being.

Chapter 77 The Cotton Robe (Seeking monthly votes!)
Shichahai Sports School.

The actor training center for "Shaolin Temple".

Seeing that director Zhang Xingyan hadn't arrived yet, Li Lianjie yawned, then whispered to Ji Chunhua, who was only two years older than him:

"We used to have normal weekends off, why are we suddenly having extra training this weekend? Is it because our movie is about to start filming?"

"Maybe," Ji Chunhua said, touching his bald head.

"It's good to start making a movie sooner rather than later; training every day is meaningless."

"Who wouldn't want to make a movie sooner? But it's not up to us to decide."

Yu Hai, who plays Li Lianjie's master in the film, walked over and interrupted the two boys' chirping:
"Alright, you two, stop complaining here and get back to practice. Otherwise, when the director comes and sees you slacking off, he'll scold you again."

"Alright, Master Yu, let's practice right away."

Both Jet Li and Ji Chunhua were somewhat intimidated by this sixth-generation successor of the Seven Star Mantis Boxing.

Even Li Lianjie's experience of visiting the United States and being patted on the head by Nixon pales in comparison to Master Yu's, because Master Yu has visited so many countries that he can't even count them on two hands.

The Shaolin Temple crew was full of hidden talents. In addition to Yu Hai, a master of the Seven Star Mantis Fist, Yu Chenghui, who played Wang Renzhe in the film, brought back the almost lost double-handed sword technique. He also combined the martial arts of the Mantis School to create a unique Mantis Sword Technique. It is no exaggeration to say that it was the best sword technique of this period.

There's also Hu Jianqiang, who plays the monk Wukong. Historically, he was the all-around champion of the National Wushu Competition for two consecutive years, this year and next. Sun Jiankui, who plays the monk Sekong, was the champion of boxing and swordsmanship at last year's National Ten Units Wushu Invitational Tournament...

To film "Shaolin Temple," Zhang Xingyan practically gathered every national champion he could find, something that would be difficult to do in later generations and only possible during that period.

"They're here, the director is here."

Ding Lan, the female lead in "Shaolin Temple," offered this reminder.

Compared to the other actors in the play, who were all winners of various awards, only this 18-year-old female lead was a proper actress, and a traditional opera actress at that.

She has performed in Henan opera works such as "The Red Lantern", "The Broken Bridge", "Borrowing an Umbrella" and "Beating the Golden Branch".

Who are those people next to the director?

"do not know."

"It must be someone from the film crew. Looks like our movie is about to start shooting."

While the group was discussing, Zhang Xingyan also came over with Chen Fusheng and the other two.

Yes, there were three of them, because Lingzi came too.

"Alright, everyone gather around. Let me introduce you to a few directors. Maybe you'll have the chance to work together in the future."

Li Lianjie and Ji Chunhua exchanged a glance. They thought Chen Fusheng and the other two were quite young and assumed they were crew members. They were surprised when Director Zhang said they were the directors.

"Director Ling Zi has just adapted Cao Yu's famous play 'The Wilderness' into a movie."

"Has anyone seen 'Cow'? This young friend Han Sanping is the director of 'Cow'. Also, the suspense film that I saw last week and came back to tell everyone that was particularly exciting was also his work."

Zhang Xingyan continued, "To be precise, it's a work co-directed by him and this young friend Fusheng next to him."

When Zhang Xingyan mentioned "Cow," Chen Fusheng noticed that several people in the audience recognized him.

Without waiting for Zhang Xingyan's introduction, he took the initiative to step forward, clasp his hands in greeting, and introduce himself: "Hello everyone, I am Chen Fusheng, a writer, screenwriter, and director. On the way in, Director Zhang introduced you all, and you are all very accomplished. I am very happy to get to know you all, and I hope to have the opportunity to collaborate in the future. Thank you."

"Comrade Fusheng, you're too kind. I'm a big fan of your books. I'd like to ask when the sequel to your 'The Adventures of Shuke and Beta' will be released?" Ding Lan asked.

Li Lianjie ignored all of this and whispered to Ji Chunhua beside him, "Is this person very famous?"

Ji Chunhua touched his bald head and said in a deep voice, "Do I look like someone who likes to read?"

"Yes."

"But I've seen him in 'Cow,' and he was truly amazing." "How amazing?"

"I didn't even recognize him just now."

"You call this awesome?" Li Lianjie looked puzzled.

Ji Chunhua said, "I don't know how to explain it, but if you've seen 'Cow,' you'll understand."

While the two were whispering to each other, Zhang Xingyan formally introduced the martial arts masters he had found from all over the country to Chen Fusheng and the other two.

Soon it was Li Lianjie's turn.

"This is the male lead in my movie. His name is Li Lianjie. Don't let his age fool you; he's only eighteen years old, but he's already a national martial arts champion with five gold medals."

Looking at the 'Kung Fu Emperor' in front of him, who was still a newbie on the path of acting, Chen Fusheng felt a strange sense of amusement, but he also had to admit that this guy was indeed something special.

"Very impressive. If Comrade Xiao Li wants to continue down the path of acting, I hope we will have the opportunity to collaborate in the future." Chen Fusheng was giving himself a heads-up about the possibility of filming kung fu or martial arts movies in the future.

Although historically, the most successful Chinese films exported overseas are of this type, not all kung fu and martial arts films can make money overseas.

The reason is that these kinds of movies must have the support of kung fu stars, and they must be kung fu stars who are popular with audiences abroad to make them successful.

Otherwise, nine out of ten films will flop badly.

There's another one that might barely break even, or it might result in a complete loss.

Therefore, Chen Fusheng doesn't want to touch this type of movie for the time being...

Returning to the present, although Li Lianjie was a bit arrogant, he wasn't without emotional intelligence. After hearing Chen Fusheng's words, he smiled brightly and echoed his sentiments:
"Thank you, Comrade Fusheng. I also hope to work with you in the future. In addition, I am a fan of yours. Your performance in 'Cow' was excellent."

"..." After hearing Li Lianjie's words, Ji Chunhua touched his shiny bald head again, feeling that he was still too honest.

Next, each master took turns demonstrating their signature skills to the three directors, Chen Fusheng and Ji Chunhua. When it was Ji Chunhua's turn, Chen Fusheng suddenly thought of a popular martial arts film of that era—though it hadn't been made yet. Remembering his promise to give Ling Zi a script, he turned around and asked:

"Sister Ling, after watching the performances of several masters, I've come up with an idea for a martial arts film. I wonder if you'd like to make a film like this for your next project?"

Ling Zi was slightly taken aback, and asked with a mixture of surprise and curiosity, "What idea?"

"Around the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Eastern Depot wanted to seize a cassock containing a great secret from Shaolin Temple. They sent a Wudang outcast to attack Shaolin. To protect the cassock, the Shaolin abbot ordered his disciples to secretly take it away, while he himself wore a fake cassock and walked towards the fire, hoping to deceive everyone. However, the disciple who escaped with the real cassock was exposed and was chased all the way. He finally fell off a cliff and escaped. He was later rescued by a Wudang master, then mastered martial arts and sought revenge on the Wudang outcast of the Embroidered Uniform Guard."

"You've already developed such a clear story outline in such a short time?" Ling Zi's perception of Chen Fusheng's talent was once again refreshed.

Little did people know that Chen Fusheng had only vaguely described the outline of his work, which had not yet been published.

But he didn't explain, he just gave an awkward smile.

Lingzi then asked, "Didn't you say you were going to direct your next film? I think your story is quite interesting, aren't you going to direct it yourself?"

"I already have a script for my next film," Chen Fusheng lied, actually he hadn't thought about what his next film would be.

But it's definitely not a martial arts film.

"Alright, since you're not going to film it, Fusheng, I'll give it a try."

"Okay, I'll write the script for you later."

"Well, thank you."

The story Chen Fusheng is going to write is called "The Cotton Robe".

Released in Hong Kong in 1985, it grossed HK$1500 million.

(End of this chapter)